The Current Crisis

Every great crisis of human history is a pass of Thermopylae, and there is always a Leonidas and his three hundred to die in it, if they can not conquer. ~ George William Curtis

Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem. ~ Eric Hoffer

Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own. ~ Charles de Gaulle

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Fashion is never in crisis because clothes are always necessary. ~ Achille Maramotti

The great thing about baseball is there’s a crisis every day. ~ Gabe Paul

Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become. ~ Brooke Foss Westcott

In prehistoric times, mankind often had only two choices in crisis situations: fight or flee. In modern times, humor offers us a third alternative; fight, flee – or laugh. ~ Robert Orben

The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow. ~ H. G. Wells

Nobody but radicals have ever accomplished anything in a great crisis. ~ James A. Garfield

Real style is not having a program – it’s how one behaves in a crisis. ~ Frank Auerbach

The British have a remarkable talent for keeping calm, even when there is no crisis. ~ Franklin P. Jones

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. ~ Henry Kissinger

In crises the most daring course is often safest. ~ Henry Kissinger

A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises. ~ Andre Maurois

Crises are challenges, not calamities. ~ Guy Verhofstadt

Even boredom has its crises. ~ Mason Cooley

In every age “the good old days” were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them. ~ Brooks Atkinson

What one decides to do in crisis depends on one’s philosophy of life, and that philosophy cannot be changed by an incident. If one hasn’t any philosophy in crises, others make the decision. ~ Jeanette Rankin

Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down. ~ Natalie Goldberg

Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition. ~ Florida Scott-Maxwell

Try to relax and enjoy the crisis. ~ Ashleigh Brilliant

In the best of times, our days are numbered anyway. So it would be a crime against nature for any generation to take the world crisis so solemnly, that it put off enjoying those things for which we were designed in the first place: the opportunity to do good work, to enjoy friends, to fall in love, to hit a ball, and to bounce a baby. ~ Alistair Cooke

Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis – a good hot cup of coffee. ~ Alexander King

About This Site

This site offers a daily column on current events, and unlike other blogs, in long form. Short posts pointing to this and that and saying "Oh my!" seems a bit lazy. Columns here are an attempt to think things through. If you'd like to come along for the ride, fine. If you have neither the time nor patience for that, that is also fine - you can click on the LINKS tab at the top of the page and visit the sites that offer quick hits. Those provide the raw material for the analyses here.

The views here are mine alone, save for the occasional column from Ric in Paris or comments from key readers, like Rick, the News Guy in Atlanta, and others.

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JUST ABOVE SUNSET has been online, in various formats, since May 2003. Click on the ABOUT tab at the top of the page for more on that, and a note on who I am.